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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

film ownership: legal issues

O

omar robles

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So here is the situation

I and my two partners worked with a producer on a horror indie. My partner financed it himself. We are 80 percent finished with the film. However our third partner ( the bad one) Decided to rock the boat and sabatoged one of the scheduled shooting days. The producer was furious and now wants nothing to do with my partner. So here is the situation. My partner has financed the entire shoot. However he unexpectdely decided he didnt want to deal with contracts. To top it off he paid for everything in cash. So theres no records of him financing the project. (Before you comment yes i know this was seriously stupid) The only thing i see going for us is they filmed the entire film at our partners warehouse and diner. So I am assuming they will need a release before they can think of selling the film. They own the story so are we scewed here?

If you guys can provide me your opinions or advice in the matter i will appreciate it.
 
Where are you?

If you are in the US, the short story is that the film can't be distributed without written agreements. You need releases for the script, the actors, the locations, and the cinematography. If there were sets, you need releases for the set design. If it's been edited, you need releases for the music. If you want to move forward, you guys need to get in a room with a lawyer and work something out (on paper). If you don't, it sounds like you all just got a lesson in producing.
 
We are in california.

The producer claims that he has the right to go over us and get the film finished without our consent. He owns the script, however we paid for the production (although we paid for it in cash, dont ask wasnt my idea) My partner owns all the locations that were used to shoot in.
 
Dont think you have much of a case,the best thing to do now is get along toe the line with the producer and complete the film release it and split the money.Without documentation the partner cant prove anything ,locations can be paid for by anyone (in cash as well).
All the best.
 
The film can be finished without your consent in all likelihood, but it can never be released, sold, distributed or even put online for free without fear of being asked to be taken down releases for those locations he shot in.

It obviously would be best for everyone to work out a way to amicably come to some agreement about ownership of the project, otherwise the whole thing will have been a waste of everyone's time and money.

Which is why you contract in the first place. But given the lack of professionalism exhibited to date by your story and the complexities already in place, the chances of the film receiving any sort of financial release either way are practically nil, so I'd advise the partner who has put in the cash money that either he works out a way to get back on board the project, or kisses his money goodbye. I'd say to the other partner, either your friend who puts money into the project gets back on board, or releases for locations will never be forthcoming and they'll have no way of releasing the film properly, because they will need errors and omissions insurance from almost all distributors and it would be easy for your partner to block that happening.

Whatever disagreement that has gone on and issues caused will be, in retrospect, minor compared to the fate the film now faces if nothing is done.
 
The bad partner is the one with the technical and equipment resources. Basically he provided the equipment needed to film the project. One day he decided he didnt want to shoot. And production to a halt. Thats where it all went south. Hes not very reasonable.
 
Who has possession of the film (be it media or film stock)?

You say there are no contracts, but what about between you and your partners?

Did you setup a company for the film? Who owns the company?
 
The producer has possession of the film

There wasnt any contract because my partner foolishly felt that a verbal contract was good enough( since he financed the project i had no say in this)

We have our company and the producer who owns the script has his. It was going to be a co partnership.
 
unless you intend on releasing the film yourself i.e. four walling it in theaters or selling DVDs via your own distribution channel you will need contracts to engage a distributor. We had all our paperwork in order for our film and still the distributor wanted additional language appended to all contracts in order to move forward. Luckily we were able to get everyone to comply. This was our first feature and I gotta say the one lesson I learned was to engage an entertainment attorney to draw up all contracts (usually somewhere around $2000) for the production before shooting one frame. I must stress the point that it be done by an entertainment attorney (vs. any other kind of attorney), preferably one that deals often with the main distributors and has knowledge of their language requirements (for instance Sony is a bear while Lionsgate is somewhat flexible).
 
The producer who has possession of the footage. Said since we had an agreement to finance the film and we didnt meeet the requirement. He has the right to complete the film without our consent. When i told him about release issue with the locations. He said we gave them consent to use the location along with financing the project. Which we did. I think were screwed unless we take the deal his offering.
 
They made us a fair offer to settle up. Both my partners are refusing to go along with it. I just feel if we take this to court we will loose and end up with nothing.
 
In circumstances like these you have to be pragmatic. If an offer was made then negotiations are open. Make a counter offer. Get everything in writing.
Or cut your losses right now and walk away before you waste a lot of time, energy and money. When lawyers get involved the only thing that's certain is that it will cost you a bundle.
 
God, what a mess. Get a lawyer now. Preferably one specializing in entertainment law. There's a million of them in LA, and not all of them will charge you a fortune.

It's hard to deal with people in business who aren't reasonable and rational. In a perfect world, you need to get all of the partners sitting at the same table, with a neutral party (like a lawyer) explaining the rules of the road, and everybody has to stay calm and understand what the realities are, especially in the Indie World.

Never, ever, ever get into a situation like this without getting good contracts signed first. You gotta determine up front who controls the film during production, and who owns the film at the end. I personally know of a case where a little indie film got delayed three years because one participant decided at the last minute that he didn't like his deal. Just delaying the release cost them well over $100,000, both in lost income and in legal fees. Nobody won in that case.
 
I can tell you from experience that you want to get this sorted out IMMEDIATELY. Lawyer up and fast. Do everything you can to get possession of the film itself (if it's digital obviously all you need is a copy). Get possession of any paper that you can (crew/cast contracts, etc). If he refuses to provide you with copies of all of the above call the police and file a report. Even if it goes nowhere it will likely help you later. My first feature film was hijacked. The sound and 35mm negative was stolen and I was told if I did not sign over the film to them they would never let me finish it. I did manage to get the negative back, but they still have the sound and the film was never finished. It's been over 10 years. The experience still haunts me.

Seriously, you and your friend should be calling lawyers all day today.
 
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